Elder David Kirkwood Bean's letters as he serves as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Brazil São Paulo North Mission!

Elder Bean's Mission Scripture

Elder Bean's Mission Scripture:

Alma 26: 35

35Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Sept 18, 2012 "Oi! Eu vivo!"

Oi! Eu vivo! [Hi! I
live!]

(First thing, I’m not allowed to receive packages here at
the CTM, so wait till I’m at the mission home in mid-November and later.)

Thank you so much to Elder Andrew Woodruff, Ashley Moody, Laura Williams, and
meu mai for your letters! J They make me so happy, and I sent responses
to ya’ll today! This week went by SO
fast. Oh my. It seriously was yesterday I was writing on
my first P-day. I’m learning more and
more, not just Portuguese, but the simple purposes of missionary work. I love it here, I can’t stress that
enough. I am so happy. J We’re learning more and more, and getting
better at teaching. We’ve been teaching
our first “investigator,” his name is William.
He was having problems at first accepting the gospel as the one true
church and a true prophet, but we helped him a lot. He’s now committed to be baptized, and he
believes in the Book of Mormon and in the Restoration, and so we’re pretty much
done teaching him. *insert fist pump!* Success.
And we’ll get a new “investigator” tomorrow. We also had our first TRC
(TrainingResourceCenter) where we teach other
missionaries pretending to be investigators.
We also get recorded and receive feedback after watching ourselves
teach. It was really good, especially
for being our first one. We’ll do another
one next week.

Our district is growing closer and becoming better friends. Elder Lowe is our district leader and he is
doing great things. He’s taking charge
and helping us make/reach our goals.
It’s great. One thing we do to
cope when we get overwhelmed is we have had a testimony meeting every
week. A mission is hard work, but it’s
all worth it. We are striving to focus
more and work harder.

Yesterday was Sunday, and we all had to prepare talks on the
Restoration, ’cause the branch president will randomly choose the speakers
during the meeting. I prepared a talk
about following Joseph Smith’s pattern of receiving answers and stuff. I wasn’t asked to speak, but it was good for
me to write. The Elders that did speak
gave great talks. Also, our district had
to do a musical number, and I got to conduct/arrange/head that up. It was Sweet
Hour of Prayer. It went very well, and we sang it in Portuguese! Which, by the way, I am understanding more
and more! J
I had a Portuguese dream which was super
exciting! They say that’s a big
step. Okay, so this letter is really
scatterbrained!

So some more random stuff;

1) My new English scriptures have a printing mistake, the
Book of Matthew chapters 4 to the end are missing. I know I need the Book of Matthew, and that
I’m not allowed packages here, so...we’ll work it out later.

2) I’m making great friends with the Brazilians! J It’s so cool.
“Molho de legal!” And my best
friend taught me a sick awesome way to tie a tie.

3) We got Brazilian roommates! At the beginning of last week. Two of them.
One is very quiet. I think I’ve
heard him speak a total of five words.
But the other tries to talk to us.
At first, I think they hated us for being so gringo, but now we are way
good friends. There is still a language
barrier, but we’re teaching each other.
The one guy knows and loves pretty much every band I love. So cool!
We sang together Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse, Train, Jason Mraz, etc. It
was so surreal. Music really is a
Universal language. And! This Brazilian roommate says I’m way good at
pronunciation.

4) I fall asleep sometimes at the weirdest moments and the
other elders think it is SO funny. Haha It is. J

5) I got a haircut today and it looks so good!

6) Driving home from the temple is special because we drive
through my area here in Sao Paolo Norte.
It’s our turf! Our people! Our responsibility to help as many of the
thousands and thousands of people that pass us as I can. It’s a little daunting, but way exciting
too!
7) I have seen God’s hand here, helping me in so many ways already. He is SO mindful of us and He loves us so
much. Stay strong, write if you can,
it’s the best, serve God, have faith.

David and Matthew have been friends since grade school. Now, as missionaries serving in Brazil, they stand outside the Sao Paulo Temple. What joy for these two brethren!

P.S. AHH MAN!!!
J This is a last minute addition: at the temple
just now I saw, embraced, and talked
with Elder Matthew Woodruff!!! J God is
good. Elder Woodruff looks so great,
he’s really happy. * I can’t believe how
much God loves me. I saw Matthew here in
Brazil! We were in different sessions, but we talked
in the Celestial Room and after. Ah man!
J
What a tender mercy. I don’t even know
what else to say. Only tears can express
how I feel. Love you Matthew. YAHOOOO!!!

*And I had the feeling to bring my camera to the temple, and now I know why.